When thirteen-year-old Mellie Turpin was a little kid, a tiny winged man with magical powers named Fidius lived with her family. For years she thinks she imagined him, until she and her family move into the run-down inn owned by Mellie's recently-deceased grand-père. The place turns out to be home to hundreds of Parvi Pennati, or small persons with wings, to whom the Turpins have a family obligation.
Small Persons with Wings contains examples of:
- All of the Other Reindeer: Durindana's mind rejects the Magica Artificia, the main form of magic used by the Parvi. Once she conjured a skirt that disappeared in the middle of a dance, leaving her in her drawers. Ever since then the other Parvi have called her Inepta. However, once the Parvi give up the Magica Artificia for good, she learns the Magica Vera much faster than the others. She uses her newfound abilities to help the others make clothes and houses.
- Awful Truth: The Parvi have stored the Magica Vera, an old magic that among other things let them see through illusions, inside a moonstone. If someone drops the moonstone into a glass of water and then drinks the water, they learn what everyone else really thinks of them and realize every unpleasant fact about themselves that they're in denial about. When Mellie's parents drink it, they realize that their art isn't any good and Mellie doesn't respect them.
- Calling Parents by Their Name: Mellie's grand-père found the word "dad" distasteful. Her dad always calls him Ogier.
- Closet Shuffle: Chief Wright, who lives next door to the inn, pays the Turpins a visit while Mellie is still transformed into a giant frog. She hides in a closet until he leaves.
- Curly Hair Is Ugly: Having curly hair is one of the things Mellie is bullied for at her old school.
- Dead Guy Junior: Naming kids after contemporaries of Charlemagne is a Turpin family tradition. Mellie's dad, Roly, was named after Roland, one of the paladins of Charlemagne. Mellie was named after Melissa, a priestess of Merlin. Her middle name, Angelica, comes from a princess of Cathay featured in legends about Charlemagne.
- Dead Man Writing: Ogier leaves two notes for his descendants, one hidden with the moonstone in an old bag of coffee that consists almost entirely of insults against his son, and one hidden inside a wine label that contains detailed instructions for how to return the moonstone to the Parvi.
- Death Faked for You: There's a grandfather clock in the inn that bongs loudly at random moments. It turns out Gigi tied up Ogier, enchanted him to look like a clock whose speech sounded like bonging, and then told his family he died. He's been stuck in that spot for two months.
- Dream Reality Check: When Mellie first sees Durindana, one of the Parvi, she thinks she's dreaming. But then she realizes that she can still smell the mildew, and she's never smelled something in a dream.
- Driven to Suicide: This has been known to happen to people who drink the moonstone elixir, including Ogier's father when he was fifteen.
- Eskimos Aren't Real: After eight-year-old Mellie decides Fidius isn't real, she stops reading fiction and refuses to believe in anything "imaginative," including the characters from Little House on the Prairie.
- Famous Ancestor: Mellie's family is descended from Archbishop Turpin, one of the Twelve Peers of Charlemagne. In 775, the Parvi gave him their moonstone, which lets people see through lies, in exchange for sanctuary. Ever since then, the Turpins have safeguarded the moonstone, and have been obligated to provide a home to the Parvi whenever they need one.
- Fantastic Slurs: Parvi are highly offended at being called "fairies."
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Chief Wright wants his son Timmo to be a cop, but Timmo wants to be an astronaut. Chief Wright more or less comes around after Noctua plants a dream in his head about Timmo as a heroic astronaut.
- Forced Transformation: The Magica Mala, which Parvi are forbidden from using, can enchant things to not only look like but also take on the function of other things. When Mellie refuses to give Gigi the moonstone, Gigi turns her into a hideous giant drooling frog, which causes her to develop a craving for flies and the ability to catch them with her tongue. After Gigi turns Ogier into a grandfather clock, he goes two months without needing to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom, although he can still walk around once he's untied.
- Freudian Excuse: Fidius was once captured by two human children who put him in a jar. The experience traumatized him and made him obsessed with combining all three magics in order to become so powerful that humans will never be a threat to Parvi again. In order to do that, he needs to get the Turpins to give the moonstone to him instead of to all the Parvi. He resorts to mind control, kidnapping, forced transformation, and attempted murder.
- Genuine Imposter: Timmo and Mellie need to leave the inn while Mellie is still a giant frog, so Timmo wears a monster mask and gloves so strangers will think they're both wearing costumes.
- Intelligence Equals Isolation: One of the things Mellie is bullied for at her old school is being good in school and knowing too many big words. Her only friends are in the Girl Scouts, where nerds are celebrated.
- Interrupted Suicide: Mellie's parents decide to commit suicide because of the influence of the elixir and Fidius's encouragement. They go to the roof to jump off, but hundreds of Parvi fly up with a pink blanket to catch them, then lift them back onto the roof. Luckily, the elixir wears off a minute later, preventing any further attempts.
- Intrigued by Humanity: Fidius is fascinated by humans and their appliances, like DVD players and toasters. Mellie speculates that he hoped to use the Magica Mala to become a human.Fidius: This is Gigantes magic, Electricity, applied with Know-How and Can-Do Spirit.
- Kids Are Cruel: Mellie's former classmates' bullying tactics include holding her face under the water fountain, sticking a tampon in her back pocket as she's about to get up to do a math problem, throwing slush balls at her, and knocking her book of Degas paintings into a puddle.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Timmo's dad and his older sister Eileen walk in on the Turpins in the middle of a ceremony with hundreds of Parvi, Mellie looking like a giant frog, a woman (actually an enchanted mannequin) with her head falling off, and Ogier transforming from a clock to a human. They both faint from shock. Noctua uses the normally forbidden Magica Mala to erase their memories of the event and preserve the masquerade.
- Living Lie Detector: The moonstone has been set in a ring that gives the wearer this ability. When they hear a lie they feel cold, and when they hear a truth they feel warm. They can also see through illusions created by the Magica Artificia.
- Master of Illusion: The Magica Artificia can create illusions in all five senses. The Parvi use it to live lives of luxury, wearing elaborate ballgowns that are really filthy rags and eating feasts that are really crickets and slugs.
- Mobile-Suit Human: Gigi Kramer, a supernaturally beautiful woman with a weirdly echoey voice and the ability to manipulate people into doing whatever she wants, is actually a mannequin. One of the Parvi, who hides inside her head, uses Magica Artificia to make her look like a human and the Magica Mala to make her walk around.
- Narrative Profanity Filter: Mellie isn't allowed to use religious swears until she's sixteen or biological swears until she's eighteen, so she replaces other people's swearing with Minced Oaths.
- New Media Are Evil: Mellie's parents don't own a computer because they think it sucks your soul, even though she's used computers at school and nothing bad has happened.
- Not-So-Imaginary Friend: When Mellie is in kindergarten, she's one of the few kids not invited to Janine Henry's birthday party. She tells the other kids that she's not going because it's Fidius's birthday. When the other girls find out that she has a "fairy," they all want to be her friend. Mellie promises to bring Fidius to school on Monday, but when Fidius finds out that she broke the masquerade, he's so angry that he leaves the family. Alpha Bitch Janine is so mad at Mellie for ruining her birthday party that Mellie spends the next eight years being bullied over her "imaginary friend."
- Poster-Gallery Bedroom: Timmo's room is covered in star charts and nebula posters.
- Put Off Their Food: Mellie picks at a hangnail while Durindana eats. Durindana says, "Ai-yi-yi! You expect me to eat while you tear large pieces from your body?"
- Sarcastic Confession: Chief Wright wonders how the Turpins redecorated their kitchen so quickly. Timmo says, "Fairies did it." Chief Wright says, "Don't sass me."
- Sense Loss Sadness: Centuries of Magica Artificia use have caused the Parvi to lose the ability to smell, taste, or make facial expressions. They decide to give up the Magica Artificia and return to the Magica Vera, which would help them build non-illusory homes, even though they wouldn't have as many luxuries.
- Sleepy Depressive: After Mellie's parents drink the elixir, they spend most of the next day in bed.
- Sneaking Out at Night: Timmo sneaks out to join the Turpins for the midnight ceremony in which they return the moonstone to the Parvi.
- This Is Reality: Timmo is afraid the Parvi will turn him into something. Mellie tells him, "People don't turn into things. That's so Brothers Grimm."
- Trapped at the Dinner Table: At the beginning of the book, five-year-old Mellie's parents won't let her leave the dinner table until she eats her squash. Fidius enchants it to look like candy corn. Mellie gulps it down, realizing too late that it still tastes and feels like squash.
- Weight Woe: The other thing Mellie is bullied for at her old school. Her classmates call her Fairy Fat. Gigi almost gets Mellie to hand over the moonstone by promising to make her thin.
- Welcomed to the Masquerade: Timmo hears classical music playing from the pub on the first floor. He goes in and finds the pub full of Parvi, who have enchanted it to look like a lavish eighteenth-century ballroom. After that, the Turpins have no choice but to explain everything to him.
